ROLLA, Mo. – After being held to two hits in a 2-1 first game loss in Saturday's doubleheader at the Ballpark at S&T, Missouri S&T's baseball team more than made up for it in the nightcap as it knocked off Maryville 18-6 to hold onto the lead in the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings.
The win in game two improved the Miners to 21-6 in the GLVC as they hold a one-game lead over Missouri-St. Louis heading into play on Sunday. S&T (28-15 overall) moved two games ahead of Maryville and Drury with the victory , while Illinois Springfield is three games behind the Miners in a tight race at the top of the standings.
Missouri S&T has already clinched a berth to next month's GLVC Tournament, but is setting its sights on grabbing the regular season title and top seed for the event that begins March 6 in Marion, Ill.
Game 1 – Maryville 2, Miners 1
Saturday's opener turned into a pitcher's duel between S&T's
Dylan Bates (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) and Maryville's Ryan Hoshaw, but the Saints (25-19, 19-8 GLVC) were able to fend off the Miners after taking the lead in the fourth.
Following three scoreless innings, the Saints broke on top in the fourth on a leadoff hit by Steven Schneider and a triple that followed off the bat of Tim Leark. Leark would score moments after reaching third on a hit by Aaris Stolte.
The Miners did not have a baserunner in the first three innings, but
Drew Baugus (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood) led off the Miners' half of the fourth with a double down the line in left. After an infield single by
Bricen Smith (Perry, GA/Mount de Sales Academy), the Saints appeared to have Smith caught stealing at second – but the ball got knocked out of the glove of the shortstop which allowed Baugus to score.
Smith ended up at third on the play and S&T would load the bases in the inning, but Hoshaw got a strikeout to escape the inning and keep the Saints in the lead.
The Miners would get their leadoff hitter on base in both the fifth and sixth innings but came away empty both times, then reliever Collin Greiner retired the Miners in order in the seventh to preserve the win.
Maryville outhit the Miners 6-2 – Baugus' and Smith's hits to begin the fourth were the only ones for S&T – as Bates struck out four and scattered five hits in his six innings of work.
Game 2 – Miners 18, Maryville 6
S&T spotted the Saints a run in the opening inning, but answered by putting together the first of three big scoring innings to gain the split of the twinbill.
Baugus opened the inning by reaching on an infield single and Smith was hit by a pitch, then with one out,
Garrett Meyer (Jacksonville, IL/Jacksonville) singled past short to bring home Baugus to tie the game. S&T took the lead after a wild pickoff throw to first allowed Smith to cross the plate, then later in the inning,
Aiden Cizek (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette) doubled to the fence in right to score Meyer and
Denton Damgaard (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain HS) to complete the four-run first.
Maryville scored a run in the second and took the lead with a three-run third – a two-run double by Schneider put the Saints in front – but the Miners came back with six runs on just two hits in the bottom of that inning to take the lead for good.
The Miners loaded the bases off Saint starter Brayden Rubel on a two walks and a hit batter before
Caleb Horsey (Springdale, AR/Springdale) was hit by a pitch to force in a run.
Nick Hooper (Grain Valley, MO/Grain Valley) greeter reliever Alex Bryan by hitting his first pitch into right to drive in Damgaard, then a walk to
Tyler Bizzle (Festus, MO/Festus) forced in another run and a hit off the bat of Baugus scored the fourth run of the inning.
S&T got another run on a double play, then a wild pitch scored Bizzle to close out the scoring in the third.
The Miners took a 10-6 lead into the fifth before batting through the order for the second time in the game in the bottom of the frame as they put another six runs on the scoreboard. The inning started with back-to-back hits by Hooper and Bizzle, then a walk to Baugus loaded the bases. Smith drove in a run with a high chopper to first where he was retired before
Nick Krodinger (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) punched a double down the line in right to score two.
An errant throw to second on that play allowed Krodinger to advance another base, then he came in to score on a wild pitch to make it 14-6. S&T wasn't done in the inning, as a walk to Meyer and a triple into the left field corner by Damgaard scored the fifth run; Damgaard would later score on a single by
Scott Thompson (Greeley, CO/University).
The Miners tacked on two more runs in the sixth, which were driven home by Meyer and Thompson.
S&T racked up 13 hits in the second game, three of them coming from Meyer who drove in two and scored four times. Baugus, Krodinger and Hooper also had two hits apiece for the Miners to help make a winner out of
Jack Manninen (River Falls, WI/River Falls) on the mound, as he entered the game in relief in the fourth inning and threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings and allowed only two hits.
Missouri S&T had 27 hitters reach base either by a hit, walk or hit batter, which included 10 walks issued by Saint pitching.
What's next:
The Miners and Saints will wrap up their weekend series with a noon contest Sunday at the Ballpark at S&T. Missouri S&T will follow that up with a four-game series against Lincoln to close out the regular season schedule, a set that will begin Thursday in Jefferson City, Mo.
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